From Walden to Space, 2015
From Walden to Space 2015 Wood, sound system, synthesizers (Grendel Drone Commander, Plumbutter 2, Cocoquantus 2) This liveable sound sculpture is designed for both sound performance and self-generated music. It is a simplified version of the Mercury Seven mission capsule, built in the spirit of Walden's cabin — that is, in wood. The interior control panel features various handcrafted modular synthesizers (Ciat-Lonbarde, Grendel Drone Commander, etc.) Selected passages from Henry David Thoreau's Walden are played and modulated by the machines. | Photos © Stéphane Thidet / Lucas Olivet
From Walden to Space
From Walden to Space
From Walden to Space
From Walden to Space

This project stages the collision between Walden; or, Life in the Woods (1854) by Henry David Thoreau and the Mercury Seven programme (1958), whose mission was to send men into space.
This polymorphic work, unfolding in several chapters (the first taking shape with the release of a vinyl record), raises questions of autonomy, isolation and solitude, but also of contemplation, through music, sculpture and performance.

Commissioned by the CNAP (Paris) for A Night of Philosophy in New York. In partnership with Aline Vidal Gallery (Paris), Laurence Bernard Gallery (Geneva), France Culture, and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York.